Last Beat Enhanced Review

Last Beat Enhanced wants to remind us of the good old days of Streets of Rage, but we say right now that it does not succeed in this goal. The truth is that it has not appeared without violation, even in the presentation of a standard Beat ’em up game, let alone that it can take us back to happy childhood memories.

Last Beat Enhanced is the improved version of the Last Beat game. The enhanced version has not changed significantly in content and gameplay, and just its appearance has been mostly taken care of. You have a group of street fighters at your disposal that you can choose from. Solo or co-op, you go to the heart of the enemy. Your enemies are a gang of criminals called Mad Stroke. You fight them and at the end of each stage, you must fight with one of their leaders, who are the bosses.

The enhanced version, unlike the original one, has more elaborate and energetic cut scenes, which are tried to be exactly like Streets of Rage 4. These illustrations are good, but the story remains a simple introduction to the world and the enemies. So the story cannot motivate you to keep forward.

Gameplay visuals are designed in the form of 8-bit pixel art that has nothing in common with the Streets of Rage series. The details are not bad for playing on the handheld mode of the Nintendo Switch console on which we have experienced the game. However, if you see the game on a big TV, you will probably dislike the presentation. The developer did not take any special effort in sound design and music too. What you hear is there just to fill the void, without adding anything to the game. In general, artistically, this game could not be similar to the nostalgic games that we have enjoyed on our retro consoles.

gameplay-wise, the situation is a little better because the good formula of the Streets of Rage games has been minimally implemented in Last Beat Enhanced. Of course, the animations of the characters you control are not beautiful, but they have standard strikes and movements such as special strikes, running and hitting, or grabbing enemies and throwing them. Overall, when you play this game, you probably feel like you’re playing a watered-down version of a Streets of Rage title that just happens to work.

The game has eight stages. Enemies are also diverse, but you have seen their similars in other games. Melee weapons and collectible items for money and life restoration are included in the game too. Among some levels, there are some bonus stages for motorcycle riding. In these sections, you have to dodge obstacles and also collect fuel and money from the road.

In Last Beat Enhanced, combat is hard and the enemies can kill you quickly. You must repeat some levels several times to get more money and improve the abilities of your hero. This causes the game to fall out of pace. That is, instead of the game gradually getting harder, it makes you grind hard. That is true even on the game’s easiest difficulty. Such a thing will not please anyone who likes to experience a nostalgic beat ’em up.

Last Beat Enhanced can be bought for ten dollars, but even if you love 2D action games, waiting until it gets a little discount is better. Maybe it’s more reasonable to play the old Street of Rage games a few more times until then.

The review code was provided by the publisher